POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

  HATE IS NEVER AN OPTION–VIOLENCE SOLVES NO ISSUE ADEQUATELY-LOvE IS NOT ALWAYS PLEASANT-ONLY GOD CAN CHANGE THE PAST

 

  The real problem with political correctness is that nothing is wrong until you claim to be right.  That is an over-statement, I know, but the doctrine leans too far in that direction.  The doctrine of any absolutism being incorrect leaves the proponent in a seriously weakened condition.  Let me state for the record: “Lord, I know I cannot be right on everything, but please do not allow me to be so incorrect as to be politically correct”.

   The comfort in political correctness is the underlying principle that “if we cannot be evil, we cannot be held accountable”.   WHAT A COP OUT ON LIFE!  (Oops, did I just say something politically incorrect?–I sure hope so.)

   Let us start the discussion with a re-cap of the history and an evaluation of the why’s of the movement. 

  The movement was starting in the  late 60’s and actually was publicly criticized  by all the living presidents (past and current at that time) in a joint appearance in the early 70’s on a University campus just before the beginning of the “silent majority” movement begun by Jerry Falwell.

   Two questions must be answered to evaluate any idea.
 
1. Why would a movement begin?
2. How much of an idea is valid?

   The first question -Why?- has many parts, as does any complex idea, or any movement.  Some of the people who like how this series has started will probably defect when I start in on some of the primary reasons I will give.   The reason actually boils down to this–hypocrisy opened the door to error.  Our government, our churches, our moral system, and our justice system disgraced justice, godliness, and righteousness in some areas.  Some feel that the life style of the US in the early 1900s was the ideal and where we need to be.  I do not. I do not see any time in the past history of this country that we can claim as ideal or truly Christian.  And in the 20th century compromised righteousness opened the door to justified criticism. A truly christian nation would not promote the inequities in our history.  And, though there are many noble and brave stories we can tell of our nation and it’s people, we have some dirty laundry and the people who bemoan the situation today in morality are of the groups that opened the door to the problem of immorality.  The truth is God gave Christians a chance to champion justice and many chickened out.

   It is truly amazing that after freeing Jews from the likes of Auschwitz, we would allow the kkk to maintain their position as a super segment (if not a majority) of our country.  People who claimed to believe the Bible sat silent in churches next to people who participated in lynching parties and distributors of the sickening literature portraying the events.  Now, I don’t expect non-church people to follow my drift in this next segment, but people who know the Bible and claim to believe it–we need to challenge ourselves.  How can we justify passing the plate of the Lord’s supper to such people of violence?  How could we keep silent?  How could we accept the bloody money of such people in our contribution plates instead of grabbing the money out of the plate and throwing it back in their faces?  Are we going to deny the cries of the Old Testament prophets all-together?  This evil was so great-this hypocrisy so evident-that it’s stench would not allow it’s continuation any more than the stench of the decaying heads and blood in France during the French revolution  would allow the continuation of the practice of the guillotine in French neighborhoods.  The pity is that the ones who had the responsibility to fight the fight neglected the fight. Yes, there were exceptions and I believe that the faith of Christians compelled them to back the move to justice.  The problem is we did not lead way and we were not the majority making the call.  I thank God that the dynamic force behind the civil rights movement followed the righteous and non-violent leader Martin Luther King, instead of the violent path of Stokey Carmichael that was also in the works at that time.

   If you look in the Bible, at the end of Jeremiah, You see  that the siege of Nebuchadnezzar against Jerusalem had become dire, and the army played the cowards.  They dug a hole in the wall at night and deserted their post.  So, also, many that claimed to be Christians deserted their post.  During world war II, we refused to grant the black soldiers anything like equality until forced to some compromise by necessity.  At that time, too, we took our Japanese male citizens out of concentration camps and hypocritically asked them to fight and die–which they did. . And, on leave, they would return to our concentration camps to visit their imprisoned family and then go fight for the country thus treating them.  Our black soldiers manned bulldozers while ducking bullets with the blade on the front of the machine and continuously fought bravely and equalled or bettered the white troops, with less rank, rights, and perks.  Then when they returned home, they also returned to the poor side of town and the BACK OF THE BUS. The same type of segregation and degradation was given to our native American soldiers.

   Now when you have a stench this strong, there are two ways to take care of the issue.  You can get the stinking matter out, or you can bring in the lime and quell the stench.  The opportunity was there for Christians to continue the legacy that had begun in our war and stand against inequity, to slam injustice, and to get rid of the the infection, and some did.  Some even ended up hung by the neck with the people they stood with and had their picture displayed proudly on posters and in mail fliers sent by the kkk.  Other claim to be Christians played the coward and hypocritically blended in with the messengers of violence. Instead of taking our rightful place in the conflict to stand for what is right, we let the people of the world with carnal ideas come in and do our job.  Sadly what was done by the world was superior to what was done by claim to be Christians. Some so called christian colleges granted entrance into our colleges by blacks only because the government was going to cut off federal funding if the black students were not allowed in. 

   Why did the hippie movement and the politically correct movement come?  It came because Christians refused to stand at their post.  We turned a blind eye to the injustice and a deaf ear to the cries for righteousness and were outdone by people with inferior tools. I do not mean to deal only in generalities, but movements are based on generalities.  I do not mean at all to discount the brave efforts of people who fought a righteous battle and were never given the proper notice. However, the plain and simple truth is too many people who claimed the christian faith failed their God and allied with the enemy in a doctrine of injustice and let the world fight the fight we should have been fighting.  This brings criticism from the world that is justified.  When you ask for something, don’t cry when you get it.

              Ode to Nearly Faith
 
O faith that nearly gets me there.
Yes, faith that is so similar to genuine
that it might be called a branch
or maybe a very close relative.
O faith that exploits the splendor
and takes up the battles of it’s own choosing
and leaves behind the battles
that would scar, mar and distinguish.

O faith that hides the true nature
of the absolution needed
and the desecration surrounding
and the unanswered call of true faith.
 
O, nearly faith, how consoling it is
when you convince me in my bed
that, because “this is the way it is”
that “that is the way it will stay”
 
O, nearly faith, you turn my eyes
from the station where God places me
and show me one more to my liking
with a conviction of limitations.
 
You convince me that the road less taken
is the way less needed.
And replace the well earned sleep of purpose
with the stupor of willful ignorance.
 
O, Nearly faith how great you are,
for you do not teach to sacrifice.
Only to compromise and select
the part of the battle that’s safe.

Eric d

   I do not think that racial injustice is the only reason for the rise of political correctness, but this was the cause that gave the movement teeth and weakened the cause of Christianity. There are other things that were problems in our society, too.  In my next articles, we shall dissect some of the doctrines of political correctness.  Some of us should have a very good laugh.

   Please, allow the positive message I love also permeate your heart.  Don”t think I just want to criticize and find what is wrong.  I want us to solve issues.  However, we must be honest in the diagnosis and investigation to come to any viable solution. 

   OK, let’s start by admitting that religious people opened doors to allow for justifiable criticism.   That does not rule out the validity of Christianity, only the authenticity of some of the practitioners.   Does that open the door to say we should not condemn anything?  No the doctrine of the hypocrites is the doctrine that condemns them.  The children of the hypocrites, knew the doctrine and condemned them by that doctrine,  and then rejected the totality of the doctrine.  that won’t work, either.   The truths of Christianity have blessed the western world.  Never have they been practiced adequately, but the truths are evident.   Let us objectively consider common thought today.  SHALL WE?